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Season of Creation (SoC) 2008:
Earth/Soil Sunday
Let the field rejoice and everything in it!
Humans from the humus, earthlings from the earth.
Original SoC website: www.seasonofcreation.com
This liturgy from http://ecofaith.org/mnc/soc
this liturgy is available on powerpoint
(2007 format, may work with 2003. It was too huge to keep compatible with other old formats- sorry)
Also there is a one screen pre-worship slide here.
Call to worship/Centring moment
(mostly from Norman Habel)
Now Let us Be still. Be at peace. God is ready to give to us.
Here in this place in our needs.
the gift of healing for those in pain,
the gift of forgiveness for those in sin,
the gift of assurance for those in doubt,
the gift of hope for those in tears.
The gift of laughter for those full of joy-
Deep nourishing soil for us to sink our roots gratefully into.
Two readings:
Humans from soil (the quick way)
The LORD God formed the Adam (earthling/human) from the dust of the Adamah (earth/humus). God breathed into the earthling’s nostrils the breath of life; and it became a living being. And the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east; and there he put the Adam, to serve and protect it. (Ge 2)
Humans from soil (the slow way)
Explosions turn stars into stardust.
Gravity turns stardust into rock planets.
Water turns rock into dirt.
Bacteria turn dirt into soil.
Seeds turn soil into plants.
Humans turn plants into bodies.
Eventually, bacteria turn us back into soil.
In the meantime, let’s live as seeds planted in good, rich soil, bearing one hundred fold.
Welcome/acknowledgment
Acknowledge that the (Gumbaynggirr in Bellingen) and their ancestors have trod this soil long before Jesus, or even Abraham was born, painting their bodies with it in ceremonies, and that the soil has cried out with their blood more loudly since Europeans arrived than at any other time in ages past.
Acknowledge the creatures who have been here since long before them, and the God who was before all, even before the soil! A God beyond our imagination and control, yet is one with us, amongst us, even within us.
Opening Prayer
God you are way out there amongst the stars and stardust
Yet you became one with us. One of us. A creature of the earth. Enticing us to be planted in good soil, to bear fruit.
We feel your presence amongst us, nurturing us.
We know your spirit within us, loving us and inviting us to love back. You, ourselves, our neighbours.
Thankyou for your presence here, may we have a strong sense of it this morning.
Kids talk
I used a picture from "Big Mama makes the world", the one with all the humans coming out of the soil.
Picture shows the idea that humans are made from dirt!
One of the Genesis stories tells it like this: (mold clay into a human). God took some dirt, made it into a human. Blew into it, and made it come alive.
Now, that didn’t work. But I really can made a human out of dirt! Toni and I made two kids out of dirt: Finn and Gabriel. Yeah really.
And once they were born, we fed them dirt every day so they would grow up big and strong. Well, first we turned the dirt into food with some amazing machines.
Know what they are?
Seeds!
Just put this into good soil, and it will turn the soil into a vegetable, which you can eat to turn into a human body!
So really, our kids are made of dirt, so are we, so are you.
So a universe story tells it like this. God gave birth to the universe, full of stars. Those stars sent out dust, which clumped together into HUGE rocks called planets. Then here at least, rain started turning the rocks into dirt, bacteria turned the dirt into lovely soil. We call really good soil humus. Humans come from humus.
Because then seeds turned the humus into plants, and we ate the plants and turned them into our bodies! How miraculous! You are made from stardust, with the help of bacteria and plants. God’s entire universe, the entire creation, has played a part in making you!
So every time you roll around in the dirt and get really nice and muddy and filthy, remember how amazing it is that the mud you are rolling in came from God’s stars, and is used to make you.
Now, so that you don’t get in trouble for getting so muddy, let’s get the adults to teach you this excuse:
I must get dirty
It gives me joy
I’m not just human, I’m Humus Boy!
All kinds of dirt all round the world,
I’m not just human, I’m Humus Girl!
(have a tablespoon of dirt). One tablespoon of soil has more organisms in it than humans on Earth, and 5000 types of bacteria alone
Confession (talking to kids still)
Adam from Adamah. Humans from humus. Earthlings from Earth.
How’s life earthlings? A Barren path? rocky soil? A weedy, overgrown patch? Deep, rich soil yielding abundantly. Or a bit of a mix?
As we listen to this next song, and join in if we like, let’s talk with God: let’s confess our feelings, the state of our lives, our hopes and dreams and fears to God.
Song: Ashes to Ashes (Dutney)
Assurance
Here are the visions of hope for the Earth!
The church: bearers of the Spirit to bring reconciliation and renewal of all creation!
Share with the person/people next to you a vision of hope which you have seen for the Earth.
Nothing in creation, nothing done to creation, can separate us from the love of God revealed in Christ Jesus.
Passing Peace
So may the peace of Christ which surpassed all understanding: deep, nourishing, rich as an alluvial floodplain or a well composted garden bed, be with you. Share the peace with each other.
Song: we plough the fields and scatter (Australian Hymn Book)
This song is pretty quaint, and the actual words outdated compared to modern agriculture. You could reflect on its being written pre industrial revolution, and around the start (I think) of the agricultural revolution. It paints a picture of God intimately acquainted with creation. There is a version with modern words (We plow the fields with tractors) on the web, but it is less satisfying, acknowledging on the one hand that we rely on technology, but still trying to claim that its all up to God too.
If you write a version which takes modern climatology, and the need to listen to what God might be saying about where to plow and scatter, I'd love to see it!
Reading: Matthew 13 (sower and seeds)
Reflection.
We had a member of the congregation, who is an organic farmer, reflect on rich soil and rich faith.
Offering
Rich Soil. Bacteria and fungi and worms build it. Eventually they return us to it. In the meantime we depend completely on this gift of soil, as do all creatures. Let’s be inspired by these marvellous soil creatures, who dedicate their lives to renewing soil by reconciling all things back to it, as we make our own gifts of time, talents, and resources to God’s project of the reconciliation and renewal of creation.
Offering song
Intercession
The reconciliation and renewal of all creation remains incomplete…Between species, amongst humans, even within each one of us.
But God is here. Here to listen to our concerns, and to share her concerns with us.
Notices
Blessing
God is beyond us and our imagination (like the trillions of planets out there in space, whose soil we will never step foot on.)
Jesus was one of us, a dusty messiah walking far and wide to scatter the seed of the kingdom, hoping to find good soil.
God is amongst us (calling us beyond ourselves, to reconciliation with each other and all creation.)
God is within us (as everything in our body is full of soil, so it is full of God’s Spirit.)
So in our week, in our lives, may God’s will be done, on earth as in heaven. And may we find our creator in creation, serve and protect the garden, and be agents of reconciliation and renewal.
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